Design and in vitro Characterization of a Wearable Multisensing System for Hydration Monitoring

Dehydration is a frequent condition in the elderly and can lead to serious health complications if not compensated timely. Early diagnosis can be problematic, as medical examinations in the hospital would be needed. Fully wearable low-cost multisensing devices for home use could help investigate and prevent critical conditions. We introduce a sensing platform designed for operation in remote healthcare for the elderly. It combines a low-cost, highly customizable flexible inkjet-printed multisensor bracelet, including sensors for body impedance, skin hydration, and temperature monitoring, with a small, low-power front-end circuit and an embedded unit that communicates by a Low Power Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN) transmission interface. We describe individual system components and present in vitro experiments for their characterization. Reported results represent the fundamental proof of concept for the development of a fully operating device that can be used satisfactorily to monitor dehydration in a real-life application scenario.